Niles North senior Ben Arcus chose to stay near the still rings after completing his final routine at the state meet Saturday in Hoffman Estates.

Arcus, the last competitor on the rings, hung out near the main judging table immediately after dismounting. There was no need to rush off anywhere. His short but unique foray into gymnastics had finally come to an end.

A few minutes later, Arcus learned his score of 8.95 put him in sixth place.

“I was happy with my set and made a lot of progress from last year,” Arcus said. “I was just happy to be here. It’s the finals, it’s big and real gymnastics.”

Arcus comes from a gymnastics family, but he said he didn’t start competing until his sophomore season. His father coaches at Viking Gymnastics Club in Niles, and his mother is the head coach for the Niles West girls gymnastics team.

Nevertheless, Arcus looked like a lifelong gymnast at the state meet. In addition to his sixth-place finish in rings, he also took sixth on the floor (9.30).

“I decided to come give (gymnastics) a try and I fell in love with it, such a very unique sport in many ways,” Arcus said. “I wasn’t in the gym much prior to my sophomore year, only when I was younger would I mess around on a trampoline. I never really swung on any of the events until my sophomore year.”

Arcus said he focused mainly on baseball and football during his younger years. He played football at Niles North during his freshman, sophomore and senior years.

“I just never got into gymnastics,” he said. “Going into my sophomore year, I went to my mom’s gym at Niles West and started messing around. I’m happy with my performance and proud to end here at state.”

Niles North coach Rick Meyer said Arcus' performance at state exceeded his expectations, mainly due to his lack of gymnastics experience compared to most of his competitors.

“It’s hard to be disappointed considering he’s only a three-year gymnast,” he said. “To watch him grow in three short years and end up at state is quite an accomplishment.

“Ben actually grew up in my gym. He was always a baseball and football player. He was in the gym all the time, though. He told me between his freshman and sophomore year he was thinking about coming out for gymnastics. I told him, ‘I don’t believe you.’

“I’ve known him since he was a little kid. He shows up in the gym, and here we are a couple of years later. What a great way to end it.”

Two years removed from a state championship, a handful of Wolves qualified for state individually but did not win any medals. That’s quite OK with Batista, who will lose four seniors to graduation but will return plenty of gymnasts who gained postseason experience.

They also came close to making state as a team this spring.

“We’re looking to come back strong next year,” Batista said. “It was a set-up year for next year, using this to build off and hopefully compete with the best and be a top team. A lot of people learned from this state experience for the first time and can come back stronger.”

Freshman Brian Lieo had an impressive showing at state. He finished 23rd in Friday’s all-around competition with a score of 50.05. He placed 10th in the floor (9.20) on Saturday for Niles West’s best individual result.

“Brian had an amazing sectional, which was his best meet of the year and came back Friday and we were just happy he made it,” Batista said. “He did very well for a new kid who we worked with a lot during the season. His floor has been getting better and better in the second half of the season. He had a really clean routine and nailed it.”